This invention relates generally to computer systems and methods that facilitate product design and manufacturing. More specifically, the invention relates to methods and systems for managing the integration of virtual design systems with physical manufacturing systems.
Computer systems and software for designing products are advantageous, including Computer-Aided Design (CAD) systems in which the physical structure of potential products may be defined and optimized, Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) systems that simulate the physical behavior of the potential products and allow virtual product testing and performance evaluation, and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) systems for defining and optimizing manufacturing processes and operations for potential products. Using such computer systems, potential products and their manufacture may be designed, modeled, and tested in a virtual on-line environment. For example, in an aircraft design context, computer systems may be utilized to model the entire aircraft and its manufacture, including all of its electrical or mechanical systems, sub-systems, parts, components, mechanisms, or assemblies that define the aircraft. Such designs may be enormously complex, and managing information and data relating to such designs among different computer systems is challenging.
In particular, compatibility issues between different computer systems owned and operated by different business entities can be a significant impediment to effective use of information and data generated by or utilized by the respective systems. Also, difficulties associated with adaptations to and modifications of computer modeled designs during physical manufacture and production processes may lead to costly production delays and undesirable discrepancies between products as designed and products as built.